80's drama movies (not a Miser thread, despite the title)

[DirtyDeeds]

They tend to be decent enough lazy afternoon movies, but damn, I swear if I hear just one more fucking saxophone solo in a nighttime scene...

What as with the saxophone in 80s movies? There was no trend in regular popular music with the sax, was there? I can't find the connection.

Edited May 1, 2013 by DirtyDeeds

[Guest Len B'stard]

Sax solos are to 80s drama movies what electric guitar solos were to 80s porn

[JONEZY]

Lots of synthesizer in those 80's movies too.

[Gracii Guns]

Do John Hughes movies count as drama? Because I could write books on the perfection of The Breakfast Club.

[Apollo]

Do John Hughes movies count as drama? Because I could write books on the perfection of The Breakfast Club.

Really? Give us a paragraph or two!

Not being sarcastic.

When I was a teen..........loved the movie.

But a couple years ago I got out all the old classics that I had grown up with, like the Breakfast Club and 16 Candles and they did NOT stand up to the test of time. Cheesy, completely cliched characters and just terrible acting.

I'm very curious to know why you think it is so perfect?

[Coma16]

I watched Adventures In Babysitting a few months ago and it was great. I love 80s movies (most genres as well)

[Orsys]

Lots of my favourite movies are from the 80s

Steel Magnolias

Terms of Endearment

The Big Chill

Fatal Attraction

Stand by Me

E.T.!!

The Right Stuff

Scarface

so many

[Gracii Guns]

Do John Hughes movies count as drama? Because I could write books on the perfection of The Breakfast Club.

Really? Give us a paragraph or two!

Not being sarcastic.

When I was a teen..........loved the movie.

But a couple years ago I got out all the old classics that I had grown up with, like the Breakfast Club and 16 Candles and they did NOT stand up to the test of time. Cheesy, completely cliched characters and just terrible acting.

I'm very curious to know why you think it is so perfect?

I shall when I'm not as tired as I am now. Please bear in mind that I'm not a film-junkie, nevermind a critic.

[Apollo]

Do John Hughes movies count as drama? Because I could write books on the perfection of The Breakfast Club.

Really? Give us a paragraph or two!

Not being sarcastic.

When I was a teen..........loved the movie.

But a couple years ago I got out all the old classics that I had grown up with, like the Breakfast Club and 16 Candles and they did NOT stand up to the test of time. Cheesy, completely cliched characters and just terrible acting.

I'm very curious to know why you think it is so perfect?

I shall when I'm not as tired as I am now. Please bear in mind that I'm not a film-junkie, nevermind a critic.

No problem, no pressure. I'm no movie expert and don't think my opinion means any more than anybody elses.

Like I said, I loved that movie growing up. But watched it a couple years ago and it was - imo - almost embarrassingly bad.

So I was just curious why you think it is buckets of perfect.

I can watch Home Alone or Stand By Me or Hoosiers or A Christmas Story every year, for the past 20 years. But those ones like Breakfast Club, Pretty in Pink, 16 Candles.......just seem really dreadful now.

[Gracii Guns]

Groghan, is this OK?

Gracii Guns' summary of why The Breakfast Club can be considered 'perfection', in the context of teenage movies:

It can be argued that The Breakfast Club is the greatest movie made for the teenage market because of the following reasons:

The Breakfast Club came from the early days of teenage-specific moviemaking. Its location and plot are easy to grasp, so the viewer can focus on the dialogue between the characters. What is perfect about The Club is that the personalities are reflected by every generation of teenagers. We all knew a Princess and a Basketcase at school. We all used our teenage years to work out who we really were, whilst trying on different identities in the process. And it's something that we all struggled with. Each character arrives as their stereotype, and during that Saturday, they assist each other in revealing other aspects of their personalities which cause the group to bond, despite traditionally belonging to differing social circles.

Since then, teen movies since have mainly existed in a realm of fantasy, where everyone has wealthy parents, are stunningly beautiful and has the greatest sex. It's not accurate. Most of us probably didn't spend a Saturday in detention either. The Club focuses on enough reality that the watching becomes a very personal, even intimate experience. The Breakfast Club's charm is in the scriptwriting. No high budget, no massive stars; just the dialogue conveyed so perfectly that it holds your attention, while any other movie set in one building would be boring.

Whilst other teenage movies strain themselves into being humorous, The Breakfast Club doesn't try to be funny. There is comedy within the script, but the real laughs are during the times you can have fun with the characters. For example, The Club doing that goofy dance number. It doesn't add anything to the narrative, but the musical break is an opportunity to lighten up during the surrounding dialogue-heavy scenes.

But the greatest thing about The Breakfast Club is that for 97 minutes, you can relive the emotions of your teenage years from a safe distance. Feeling thankful that you survived and, despite all of your mistakes, your teenage self wasn't all that bad.